Actress said, 'Sometimes wish I were African American because people don't bash them afterward'

Actress and filmmaker Julie Delpy has apologised for her controversial recent comments on diversity in Hollywood.

Responding to the ongoing #OscarsSoWhite debate, the Before Sunrise star told TheWrap on Friday (January 22): “Two years ago, I said something about the Academy being very white male, which is the reality, and I was slashed to pieces by the media. It’s funny – women can’t talk. I sometimes wish I were African American because people don’t bash them afterward.”

Delpy – a two-time Oscar screenwriting nominee – then added: “It’s the hardest to be a woman. Feminists is something people hate above all. Nothing worse than being a woman in this business. I really believe that.”

After her comments were criticised for being disrespectful to non-Caucasians working in the film industry, Delpy has sought to clarify her thoughts in a statement to Entertainment Weekly.

“I’m very sorry for how I expressed myself,” she said. “It was never meant to diminish the injustice done to African American artists or to any other people that struggle for equal opportunities and rights, on the contrary.

“All I was trying to do is to address the issues of inequality of opportunity in the industry for women as well (as I am a woman). I never intended to underestimate anyone else’s struggle!”

Delpy then concluded: “Again I’m so sorry for this unfortunate misunderstanding, people who know me, know very well that I can’t stand inequality and injustice of any kind.”

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Meanwhile, Matt Damon has become one of the latest A-list actors to share his thoughts on the diversity debate, saying the movie industry has “a long, long, long way to go”.